Woven wire laying, stretching and pickup device



H. H. HULL Nov. 10, 1959 WOVEN WIRE LAYING, STRETCHING"AND PICKUP DEVICE Filed July 9, 1956' Ammnlot Huber? "Harold q'lull Witness 52m? 2,912,183 Patented Nov. 10, 1959 United States Patent Office WOVEN WIRE LAYING, STRETCHING AND PICKUP DEVICE Hubert Harold Hull, Weldon, Iowa Application July 9, 1956, Serial No. 596,538'

4 Claims. (Cl. 24286.5)

This invention relates to fence wire handling means and more particularly to a device installable to a tractor for laying, stretching or picking up woven wire, barb wire or like.

One of the most diflicult farm tasks is the unwinding, laying and stretching of woven wire prior to its fastening onto the posts. While wire strand fence and barb wire may be extended over a ground area by two men using a shaft rod through the wire spool and then walking the proposed fence line, woven wire presents almost unsurmountable problems due to its weight and inherent stiffness that resists unreeling. Obviously, thelrewinding of the woven wire, if it is desired to take up the fence,

presents even more of a problem. a

While my tractor attachment is particularly adapted to be used in the handling of troublesome woven wire, it may also be used for handling single strands of wire and for handling barb wire. Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a fence handling attachment for tractors that will successfully handle any type of fence.

A further object of this invention is to provide a powered fence handling means that will not only lay and stretch a fence, but if desired will pick it up and wind it into a compact cylindrical coil.

A still further object of'my invention is to provide a woven wire fence handling means that will process the fence either in a. vertical or horiontal position, v

A still further object of this invention is toprovide" a fence handling device that will transport the wire to or from the point of use. 7 r p A still further object of my invention is to provide a fence handling attachment that may be easily and quickly attached to or removed from a tractor.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a fence handling device that is economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my device positioned for laying woven wire in a horiontal position on the ground.

Fig. 2 is a side view of my fence handling means with sections cut away to more fully illustrate its construction.

'Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the device taken on line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the device positioned for transport or for wire stretching.

In these drawings, I have used the numeral 10 to designate the draw bar of a tractor and the numeral 11, the power take off of a tractor (now shown).

It is to such that I connect my device and which I will now describe in detail. The numeral 12 designates a chassis having a tongue 13 detachably secured to the draw by 10 by the hitch pin 14. The numerals 15 and 16 designate two supporting wheels rotatably secured to the chassis 12. Transversely rotatably mounted on the rear end of the chassis 12 is a gear housing 17. Rotatably extending in and from this gear box housing is the shaft 18. The numeral 19 designates a toothed gear wheel on the shaft 18 and inside the gear housing 17 the numeral 2t? designates a longitudinally telescoping drive shaft, rectangular in cross-section and having its forward end secured to the power takeofi 11 as shown in Fig. 1. The numeral 21 designates a worm gear rotatably mounted in the gear housing 17 with its periphery in contact with the teeth of the gear wheel 19, and with its forward end loosely connected to the rear end of the telescoping shaft 20. While the power take off, telescoping shaft 20 and worm gear 21 are not capable of independent rotation, they do have sufficient looseness or play relative to each other to permit the limited rotation of the housing 17 from a position shown in Fig. 1 to a position shown in Fig. 4. The numeral 22 designates a spool embracing the central area of the shaft 18 and capable of being secured to the shaft against independent rotation by any suitablemeans such as the set screw 23. The cylinder of this spool has a plurality of longitudinally arranged holes 24. The numeral 25 designates a bar longitudinally slidable inside the spool having holes 36 capable of registering with the holes 24 as shown in Fig. 3. The outer end of this bar 25 is bent at a right angle adjacent one of the flanges of the spool 22 and a set screw 26 loosely extending therethrough and threaded into the spool flange as shown in Fig. 4.

The numeral 27 designates a wheel rotatably mounted on the outer end portion of the shaft 18. This bearing is detachably heldonto the shaft 18 by a set screw 29 threaded through it and contacting a peripherical continuous groove 30 in the end portion of the shaft 18. The

numeral 31 designates a brace rod having its forward end loosely hinged to the forward end of the tongue 13 and its other end loosely hinged to the bearing cap 28.

This brace rod may be of two parts secured together by turn brick connection 32 for purpose of controlling and adjusting the length of the brace rod.

To hold the unit in substantially a vertical condition as shown in Fig. 4, a holding rod 33 may be employed, extending one end through a hole in the brace 31 and the other end through a hole in the ear 34 on the chassis.

The practical operation of the device is as follows:

The bearing cap 28, wheel 27 and detachable outer flange of the spool 22 are removed. The coil of woven wire 35 or strand spool, whichever is the case, is placed around the spool 22. If the fence is plain wire strands, or barb wire, more than one spool of wire may be placed on the spool 22. This is desirable in a fence that is to be of two or three wires. If only one strand is to be run, dummy spools may be used to fill the spool 22. After the fence to be layed is in place, its inner end or ends are extended through the holes 24 and 36 and the setscrew 26 rotated to bring the holes 36 out of alignment with the holes 24, thereby clamping and securing the inner coil end of the fence to the spool 22. Next, the outer flange of the spool, the wheel 27 and the bearing 28 are replaced and so held by tightening the setscrew 29 to extend into the groove 30. During transport the spool will be held vertically by the rod 33 shown in Fig. 4. However, usually in the laying of the woven wire fence, the shaft 18 will be placed in horiontal position with the wheel 27 supporting the outer end of the unit. If the setscrew 23 is in loosened condition the spool 22 will run free to unwind the fence. The procedure is to secure the end of the fence to a post or like and then drive the tractor over the proposed fence row. If it is desired to apply drag to the rotation of the spool 22 so as to partially stretch the fence as it is layed, the setscrew 23 is tightened. To insure the proper drag, the power take off is controlled accordingly by the tractor operator. After the fence has been layed (and especially in the care of woven wire) the unit is elevated to the vertical as shown in Fig. 4, and the tractor slowly driven forward to pull the fence into stretched upright condition, or if desired the tractor may be stopped and the power take off used to rewind some of the fence back onto the spool 22.

Any suitable means from that shown may be used to secure the fence to the spool 22. In some cases, the fence will not be secured to the spool 22 at all. However, in picking up a fence, it is necessary to secure the end of the fence to the spool. In Fig. 1 the fence is being layed; however, in picking up thefence, it extends forward of the tractor. The tractor is placed in forward motion and its power take olf used to rotate the spool 22, and wind the fence thereon. After this has been accomplished and it is desired to remove the cylinder coil of wire from the spool, the bearing 28, wheel 27, and outer flange of the spool are removed. Next, the setscrew 26 is rotated to slide the bar 25 so as to release the inner end or ends of the fence, at which time the wound wire may be slid from the shaft of the spool 22.

If, in the laying of wire, it is on its own spool, my spool 22 may be removed and the wire of spool rotatably placed directly on the shaft 13. Any type gear wheels may be used. I show a worm gear set up so that the shaft 18 cannot rotate the driven worm gear 21. This locking phase comes into play when the tractor is moved forwardly to tighten the wire.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my woven wire laying, stretching and pickup device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably iricluded within their scope.

I claim:

1. In combination, a wheeled chassis adapted to be secured to a tractor or like, a shaft operatively rotatably secured to said chassis capable of being swung between a vertical and a horizontal position, a wheel for supporting the outer end portion of said shaft when in a horizontal position, a spool means rotatably mounted around said shaft, a means for operatively connecting said spool to the power take oflf of a tractor, and a roll of wire fence embracing said shaft.

2. In combination, a wheeled chassis adapted to be secured to a tractor or like, a shaft operatively rotatably secured to said chassis capable of being swung between a vertical and a horizontal position relative to said chassis, a wheel for supporting the outer end portion of said shaft when in a horizontal position, a spool means rotatably mounted around said shaft, a means for securing said spool to said shaft against independent rotation, a means for operatively connecting said shaft to a prime mover means, and a roll of wire fence embracing said shaft.

3. In combination, a wheeled chassis adapted to be secured to a tractor or like, a shaft operatively rotatably secured to said'chassis capable of being swung between a vertical and a horizontal position, a wheel for supporting the outer end portion of said shaft when in a horizontal position, a spool means rotatably mounted around said shaft, a means for securing said spool to said shaft against independent rotation, a roll of wire fence embracing said spool, and a means for operatively connecting said shaft to a prime mover means; said spool being of two detachable portions for permitting the removal of said wire fence roll therefrom, or the placement of same thereon.

4. In combination, a wheeled chassis adapted to be secured to a tractor or like, a shaft operatively rotatably secured to said chassis capable of being swung between a vertical and a horizontal position, a wheel for supporting the outer end portion of said shaft when in a horizontal position, a spool means rotatably mounted around said shaft, a roll of wire fence embracing said spool, a means for securing said spool to said shaft against independent rotation, a means for operatively connecting said shaft to aprime mover means; said spool being of two detachable portions for permitting the removal of said roll of wire fence therefrom, or the placement of the same thereon, a detachable bearing cap on the outer end of said shaft and a brace member extending from said bearing cap to said chassis.

w References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 862,936 Phillips Aug. 13, 1907 1,054,313 Richardson Feb. 25, 1913 1,805,505 White July 30, 1927 2,467,869 Spillman Apr. 19, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 633,721 Germany Aug. 5, 1936 

